


Weird Little Greasepit - Sophomore Year - September

by appending_fic



Series: Weird Little Greasepit - Sophomore Year [1]
Category: Buddy Thunderstruck (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Bullying, Character Death, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Town with a dark secret, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 21:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14089620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appending_fic/pseuds/appending_fic
Summary: Darnell is not hopeful when his parents move him to Greasepit, where the local high school introduces him to new bullies and the obnoxious Buddy Thunderstruck. Unfortunately the feud between Buddy and Darnell's only friend at the school threatens to make things even more uncomfortable.Weird Town AU (a la Eerie Indiana, Buffy, Big Wolf on Campus, etc.)





	Weird Little Greasepit - Sophomore Year - September

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, this is an ambitious project, but I wanna start posting and see where this madness takes me. Hope you enjoy!

"We're here!" Darnell's mother had perfected, years ago, a cheerful voice that did not allow for the possibility that things were not perfect. Her voice had been stuck in that tone for the last two months, and appeared to have gone into overdrive now that they'd finally arrived in Greasepit. "It's a lovely place, don't you think, Darnell?"

Darnell didn't reply, only because the only possible response would start an argument, one they'd had a lot since his parents had announced they were moving to a part of the country to include such communities as Crankshaft, Dipstick, and...Greasepit. The town's website had done little to recommend it, and the real thing wasn't much better. Sure, there were trees and nature and junk, but the buildings were worn down, the people some combination of disgruntled and violent, if their experience in the restaurant on the way into town was at all representative of the populace, and the water tasted nothing like it had back home.

The car slowed as Darnell's father approached their new home. Two towers poked from the third story of the building, dark grey and sided in some sort of local, indestructible oak. Darnell's father had raved about the porch, which wrapped around most of the house. It was...nice, if you weren't bitter about having been moved halfway across the country so your mother could run a rural health clinic.

Darnell managed to avoid most of the unpacking by being weak and hiding anytime his parents were looking for someone to help, but was still exhausted when he dropped into bed. The room was actually sort of nice. It was in the top of one of the towers, taking up two half-floors for a loft that left a wide sitting area below his bed. His old room had constellations painted on the ceiling in glow-in-the-dark paint, but here it was just blank.

He supposed once he got his stuff out of the boxes his room would be okay. But it wasn't his room, wasn't his house, wasn't his town.

This year was going to suck.

The next morning did not change Darnell's assessment. He emerged from his father's car outside Labrea High School, to a scene familiar to him. Students criss-crossed the school's parking lot, some sprawled across an athletic field to the right.

Someone ran into Darnell; he jolted forward, stumbling. When he turned, a stocky ox or something was scowling at him. The guy was dressed in...more expensive, if not more tasteful, clothing than most of his peers.

"Yo yo, watch where you're going, dude! You almost scratched my new shoes with your un-cool...ness."

"Well, I think you actually ran into me, so-"

The other boy poked Darnell's shoulder, leaning in close. "Do not do that. People who talk back to me learn that it's a mistake to get on Tex Arkana Jr.'s bad side." He leaned back, grinning toothily. "I am Tex Arkana Jr."

"Yeah, I got that." Darnell rubbed at his shoulder; Tex had poked him _hard_. "Look, I just need to find the office?"

"What? You gonna tell on me? Cry to the principal that Tex Arkana was mean to you? You do that, and I'm going straight to my Pa, and you wouldn't like that."

"I...will keep that in mind." Darnell tried to step around Tex, but the other boy shifted so he was blocking Darnell's path. "Come on, really?"

Tex slammed his palms against his own chest. "You're looking for trouble,and I can make sure you have trouble. Keep that in mind, Snowball." He then stepped away, pointing at Darnell as he walked away. Which was...just great. It had taken Darnell six weeks to pick up a bully at his last high school, but Greasepit was apparently trying to make up for lost time.

The principal's office was not actually hard to find, and at Darnell's knock, an imperious shout of, "Enter!" drew him in. There, a man, dark-haired with long sideburns, a permanent scowl, and a combination of suit jacket and ugly turtleneck, sat behind a wide desk. He fixed his gaze, framed by wide eyebrows, on Darnell. Something about his gaze left Darnell feeling odd, like he was under a microscope...or watched by a hungry predator.

"What is it?"

"I'm Darnell Fetzervalve…"

"Belvedere Moneybags, but you may call me Sir."

"Sir."

"So you're our new student." Principal Moneybags leaned forward, steepling his fingers in front of his face. "Labrea is plagued with trouble students - delinquents, Mister Fetzervalve. Every year there are a number I am forced to...remove from this environment. I hope you will not prove to be one of them."

"Ah...no, sir."

Principal Moneybags leaned back, then, hands falling to the arms of his chair. "Excellent!" He slid a square of paper across his desk. "This is your class schedule, and your locker number. You may go."

Darnell did, without too much examination of his schedule; as he reached the door, however, Principal Moneybags called after him.

"Mister Fetzervalve. If you're serious about staying out of trouble, stay away from Buddy Thunderstruck. He and his band of hooligans are going nowhere good."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir."

Labrea wasn't too large, but it still took Darnell ten minutes to find his first period chemistry class. There was only one other person there, a slender pale grey rabbit scribbling in a tiny notebook. She didn't look up when Darnell entered, but her ears swiveled toward him.

"Do we do assigned seats here, or can I sit wherever?"

The rabbit snapped her notebook closed, straightened, and looked at Darnell. Her smile was...nice. "New here? Sit wherever, except the back, unless you like constant distractions."

"Um…"

"You can sit next to me if you like; I won't bite."

Darnell did, thankfully. "I'm Darnell, by the way."

"Carmilla." She took the hand Darnell extended and kissed the back of it, grinning at Darnell's raised eyebrow. "So what brings you to our corner of the world?"

"Well, my parents moved here, so it was that or try to make it on the streets."

Carmilla tittered. "Alright, fair enough. Anyway, I bet you want the lowdown on Labrea High. You've got your general smattering of personalities - jocks, the band geeks, art nerds, et cetera."

"What are you?"

"Cheerleader, obviously." Carmilla stuck out her tongue. "What about you?"

"Nerd, I guess. I'm not good at sports, and performing gives me stage fright."

"Well, then there's two people you want to steer clear of. One, Tex Arkana Jr."

"Too late on that front; he ran into me in the parking lot."

Carmilla shrugged. "That's alright; he's mostly all talk unless you actually challenge him to a fight. I wouldn't. The one you really need to watch out for is Buddy Thunderstruck. Jock, all-American boy. Insufferable, really."

A loose knot of students entered the room, all talking over each other. In the middle of it, smiling broadly, was a dog, black-and-tan, tall, with alert ears and an easy slouch that made it clear he didn't fear anything in Labrea High School. He wore a jacket with a popped collar, managing to make it look...well, not classy, there was no way you could call it that. But it definitely looked good.

"Yeah, okay, get that look off your face. Buddy Thunderstruck is the impossible dream, at least until you realize he's insufferable."

" _That's_ Buddy? I thought he'd be…" Darnell shrugged, unable to express how Principal Moneybags' lecture had led him to expect a leather jacket, motorcycle, a dozen piercings.

"Eh, that's Buddy. A mystery wrapped in an enigma with a dumb, gooey center."

It seemed a harsh assessment, but Darnell didn't really know Buddy. He did watch Buddy, though, throughout class. Buddy wasn't disruptive; or, he was, but he didn't seem to be trying to make trouble. There was a lot of laughter coming from his corner of the classroom, but none of the telltale signs they were laughing _at_ anyone. 

Still, at lunch, Darnell accepted Carmilla's invitation to eat with her because she seemed to like him even if he wasn't sold on the "Buddy is terrible" theory.

Carmilla, as it turned out, was a theater geek, having starred in last year's production of _Cat on a Hot Tin Roof_.

"You should try out," she suggested, but Darnell shook his head.

"I told you: the thought of having so many people looking at me just makes me...gives me the willies."

Carmilla shrugged. "Well, then you'll at least help me rehearse when we get started this semester. They might do Shakespeare, and I am terrible at the cadence." Darnell agreed only because he hadn't yet had a reason not to, trading numbers with Carmilla (who had one of those blocky indestructible phones instead of something, you know, useful) before they parted ways, him to gym and her to algebra.

Gym was...not fun. His wrestling partner, Artichoke, was twice his size, and Darnell had not been joking about his athletic ability. He spent much of the class pinned, and had a few near misses with suffocation.

Buddy Thunderstruck was in the class, too, apparently, because that was what Darnell's life was. He and his buddies were messing around the entire time, but the teacher didn't complain because what they were doing could charitably be called wrestling, or at least people ended up in headlocks a lot.

Darnell was just trying to avoid notice, but his luck ran out in the locker room, where Buddy, on sighting fresh meat, sidled toward Darnell. He was not wearing a shirt.

"Hey, new guy! I'm Buddy Thunderstruck-"

"Darnell."

"Well, it is a delight to meet you. Hey, I think we have chemistry together!"

"Yeah…" Darnell glanced at the door. "Well, I've got computer science, so...gotta go." Darnell darted around Buddy before he or his friends could block him, a move which secured his safety for the rest of the day. 

Carmilla was waiting for Darnell at his locker, typing on her phone. She raised a hand. "Hey. Had last period free. Thought I'd hang around in case you wanted to...chill or whatever."

"I mean, I do have to do homework…"

"Let me get my notebooks and I can catch you up. Ugh, my place is sort of a dump right now, though…"

"I…" There was an implication here that Darnell was afraid to acknowledge, so he just sort of stared. When Carmilla turned back, she was smiling, but there was a tightness in her expression.

"Darnell?"

"Wouldyouliketocomeover?"

She blinked, silent, and Darnell knew he'd have to leave now and save himself further embarrassment.

But then she smiled again, more genuine. "Of course I would!"

Carmilla was apparently 16, because she drove them to Darnell's house while he tried not to freak out in the passenger seat. He was pretty sure Carmilla was into him, but having had no one be so before, could not tell if he was imagining it.

So he tried his best to just be attentive and polite, and, when Darnell's dad invited Carmilla for dinner, make her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when she asked.

"I'm so sorry to be a bother; I've just got so many food allergies it's better just to ask for a sandwich rather than list through everything that might be in your dad's cooking."

Carmilla kicked her legs absently while Darnell prepared the sandwich; Darnell kept his gaze fixed on the sandwich rather than let it stray. When it was finished, he handed it to Carmilla on a plate, earning a bright grin that made his stomach flip.

"We should probably get back in there, unless you need some milk, or-"

"Lactose intolerant," Carmilla replied apologetically, ears flopping dramatically. 

"Oh, that's fine!"

Dinner should have been awkward, eating with his parents and a really pretty girl, but Carmilla was charming, distracting his parents from any embarrassing discussions about Darnell's childhood or questions about what, exactly, her relationship to their son was. Afterward, Darnell escorted Carmilla to the door; she gave him a demure smile that nevertheless had a toothy, sly quality to it. Darnell realized with a spike of panic he had no idea what to do here.

"So, uh…"

"We should do this again sometime. Maybe get dinner somewhere a little more...private?"

"Uh."

Carmilla leaned in and kissed Darnell's cheek. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Darnell wandered back into the house in a daze; if he spoke to his parents, he didn't remember. All he could focus on was the fact that someone apparently liked him. A smart, pretty girl wanted to have dinner with him.

This distracted haze carried him through to the next morning, when the public address system crackled to life before chemistry could start.

"Attention unwashed ignorami of Labrea High. One of our students, Tex Arkana Jr., was hospitalized last night. Despite him being a delinquent, bully, and ignoramus of the highest order, I am encouraged by our superintendent to ask we keep him in our thoughts and prayers."

A shiver ran down Darnell's spine; he'd been shoved around by Tex the day before, and now Tex was hospitalized? What was it Principal Moneybags had said about removing bad seeds?

Carmilla slunk into class a moment later, dark patches under her eyes, and band-aids up and down her arms.

"What happened to you?"

She sniffed. "Fell into the ravine by my house, it you'd believe it."

"O...kay." Chattering at the door drew his attention to Buddy and his friends sauntering into class. Buddy was sporting several bruises on his face, and the weasel trailing his steps had his left ear wrapped in bandages.

He glowered at Buddy, sparing a momentary glance for Carmilla. They hadn't gotten into a fight, had they? She hadn't been quiet about her dislike for Buddy, but getting in fistfights seemed a bit extreme. At the same time...maybe it was a coincidence.

The thought occupied him through lunch, where Carmilla sipped morosely at her juice.

"Are you sure you're alright? You look a little banged up."

She smirked. "You should see the other guy."

"...You said you fell in the ravine."

Carmilla waved a paw dismissively. "Sorry. Just a dumb joke."

And yet…

Darnell was slightly worse than the day previously in gym, attention fixed on Buddy and his friends, trying to find some sign to determine if they'd gotten into a fight with Carmilla. All he managed to do was work himself into a frenzy, so when Buddy stepped out of the showers, Darnell stormed over and shoved him.

"Hey! Whoa! Is something wrong, Darnell?"

"I don't know; did you get into a fight with Carmilla?"

Buddy's brow furrowed. "What...exactly do you mean by 'get into a fight'?"

"Because I know she's too nice to say anything, and even though you're like a foot taller than me, if you lay another finger on her, I'll kick your butt so hard your _grandkids_ will feel it!"

A hand landed on Darnell's shoulder, and he spun, snarling, at the skinny weasel he'd seen following Buddy around.

"O...kay," Buddy said slowly. "I understand completely. Mr., give Darnell his space."

"But Buddy-"

"We are going to let Darnell go, Mr."

"Yeah, you are. And remember-"

"Paws off Carmilla! Yes, absolutely!"

Behind Darnell, Buddy and his weasel friend were whispering, but Darnell was too angry to care. He was used to weathering the casual antagonism of his peers, but was not about to let the popular kids bully his - well, not girlfriend exactly, but girl he had...potential with.

The indignation carried him through to the end of the day, when he found Carmilla leaning against his locker. She gave Darnell a wide, slow smile, before levering herself up.

"So. Got any plans tonight?"

"Um. I was going to get a headstart on my math-"

Carmilla laughed, a high, soft sound. "Darnell, that was a rhetorical question. I was going to invite you to my house."

"To study or…"

Carmilla leaned in close, her lips inches from Darnell's ear. "My parents aren't home."

"Urk."

Carmilla pulled back, smile sharp and almost wicked. "So...you ready to go?"

Which is how Darnell ended up here, sitting on Carmilla's bed (dusky grey to contrast the vermillion wallpaper), waiting for her to 'slip into something more comfortable' and oh shit was he supposed to be getting undressed? He was fumbling with one of his sneakers when Carmilla reappeared from the door to her bathroom, dressed in dark sweatpants and a loose long-sleeved shirt. Darnell felt a surge of betrayal at the media, which had led him to expect 'something more comfortable' to be much sexier and much less comfortable than it proved to be.

He gave her what he hoped was a debonair smile, but which was almost certainly less smooth than he'd hoped. But it earned a sly smile in return as Carmilla slipped closer.

"Um, what exactly, are we going to be doing?"

"Oh, Darnell. Use your imagination." She bent next to Darnell, twisting around to get at his, huh, he'd expected a kiss on the cheek, at least, but Carmilla went lower, pressing an open-mouthed kiss against his neck, mouthing at it lazily until Darnell felt a sharp prick against his skin.

"Hey, careful with the-" A paw slapped over his mouth, gripping hard enough to hold his mouth shut as Carmilla keep at it, the sharp sting gone, replaced with something eerily like the sensation of having one's blood drawn. It wasn't wholly unpleasant, although Darnell felt a little light-headed…

A crash filled the room, startling Carmilla away from Darnell. 

"Sorry, Darnell!" A brownish shape ran into Carmilla, sending her tumbling to the floor along with it. A snarl from Carmilla, followed by a high-pitched yelp, and a series of thumps. Darnell, moving slowly in case he passed out, turned to look at the scene. Buddy Thunderstruck was pinned beneath Carmilla, whose mouth was open wide to expose two vicious cuspids he would have expected in a cat or bat, not a rabbit.

"You should have kept your nose out of this, Thunderstruck!" Carmilla hissed.

"I could not...let you hurt...anyone...else."

"Darnell doesn't even like you!"

Buddy twisted and shoved Carmilla into her desk; it rattled, knocking over a small can full of pencils. Darnell found his gaze fixed on them, some small, irrational part of his mind trying to get his attention. But between the blood loss and the grunts from Buddy's and Carmilla's fight-

Blood loss?

The same sort of energy that'd possessed Darnell after gym leapt to the fore, and, faster than he thought he could, he rose, snatched a Number 2 pencil from Carmilla's desk, and slammed it into her back.

She gasped, arching her back, and half turned, eyes watery and pained, to look at Darnell.

"What...did...you...do?"

Darnell's stomach roiled, certainty replaced with revulsion at how he'd straight up stabbed someone, his _girlfriend_ -

She exploded into a cloud of rotting dust. Darnell had the bad luck to have been inhaling at the time, resulting in a hacking fit as he tried to expel Carmilla's ashes from his lungs. It took a few minutes to clear it out, but even then, motes of dust still hung in the air. Darnell retched, at which point a hand took his arm and pushed him gently out of the room.

Once outside, able to breathe easily, Darnell turned on Buddy. "What was that?"

Buddy gave Darnell a weak smile. "This is going to sound a little hard to believe, but your girlfriend was a vampire."

"That is not the part I'm confused about; if the way she _drank my blood_ hadn't clued me in, the way she exploded into dust when I staked her through the heart would have. _Why_ is she a vampire?"

"Well, when a vampire drains someone's blood completely-"

"Let me rephrase: why are there vampires _at all_? There are no such things as vampires, and yes, I'm aware that sounds ridiculous when I am covered in ashes of a girl who tried to suk my blood!"

"Greasepit's just like that." Darnell yelped and spun, heart racing when, instead of another vampire, he came face to face with another dog, a shade taller than Buddy, flannel-clad arms crossed over her chest. "You were supposed to radio when you got the blood-sucker, Buddy," she said over Darnell's shoulder. "I was worried you'd gotten yourself drunk like Darnell here."

"You know better than I that no plan survives contact with the enemy, Muncie."

"I…" Muncie sighed, before looking back up at Darnell. "Good to see Buddy got you out of there before she drained you dry. Though you might want to…" She patted at the side of her neck. "I mean, with the white fur and all."

"Oh! Um." Darnell abruptly realized he was going to have to get back home looking like a house had fallen on him. He suspected even his mother might notice that.

"Well, how about you come back to our place to clean up? I assure you no one will bite you unless you ask." Buddy offered a snaggle-toothed grin that was more charming, now that Darnell knew Buddy had been trying to protect him from a vampire seductress instead of getting into fights with girls he didn't like.

"That sounds nice, but we don't really know each other that well and my dad's expecting me home for dinner-"

And Buddy's face fell, ears drooping, smile vanishing, and Darnell's stomach clenched in guilt. "Okay, I understand. Muncie and I can just bring you back to your house and-"

"You know what? My mom'll kill me if I go into the house looking like this, so I'll grab a shower at your place and make sure you've got my number so we can hang out sometime?"

"That is awesome!" Buddy held out a fist to Darnell, holding it in place even when Darnell didn't respond. "Come on, bro."

So Darnell did, gingerly, raise his fist and bump it against Buddy's.

"Ka-boom!" Buddy grinned, wide, at Darnell. "Now let's get that vampire dust off you before you start craving brains or something."

"That won't really happen, will it?" Buddy and Muncie, however, were already headed to the car. "Buddy?"

"It's Greasepit, sugar," Muncie replied, "so who the heck knows? If you're gonna survive here, you've got to be ready for anything."

**Author's Note:**

> LLTKI'E TRDWXWBRS IIIW XWTX AULVJ XDPRE ESE'L LPOI


End file.
